It Felt Right
by Safui
Summary: Jess is at her most hormonal and is made worse by a certain Nick Miller while the loft is empty.
1. M'Lady

'Here we go again' Jess scowled as she dragged herself out of bed. She felt a familiar tightening feeling in her tummy, followed by a wave of discomfort. She was early this time. It seemed like it had just been days since she'd had unleashed an array of emotions onto her roommates, who were none too impressed to be silenced and forced to deal with her terrifying outbursts .She remembered the look on their faces as she imposed threats to castrate them in her own unique way. Men always seemed like vunerable targets to menstruating women. Like a stress-ball. They could practically tear the entire male population in two by just glaring at them during their time of the month, or so Jess thought. And by the 'entire male population' she meant Schmidt and Winston. Her other roommate, with the scruffy hair and the excessive use of flannel shirts seemed not too phased by the whole situation of menstruation and PMS. He also didn't agree with the concept of women being allowed to be 'irrationally angry' just because they're hormonal.

Jess scoffed, grabbing her bag of 'feminine essentials' from her drawer and made her way to the bathroom.

'Well, at least you're not pregnant, Jessica Day. There's one good thing to come out of this,' she sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She looked nothing like herself. Her pale, creamy skin was flushed and hot and he raven hair was a tangled mess, with strands falling around her face. Her big blue eyes were tainted with smudged mascara she had obviously forgotten to take off before she went to bed.

Reaching for her make-up wipes from her bag, she gently dabbed away at her eyelids, wincing as another wave of pain crashed over her. It was going to be a long week.


	2. Hormones

The majority of her afternoon was spent on the couch, holding a hot water bottle on top of her. She had gone through an entire box set of 'Frasier' and was making up for lack of tea by drinking sweetened coffee, all in her efforts to forget about the third world war taking place in her uterus.

Schmidt was working overtime, vowing that his initiative would land him a night with his new boss. Winston had gone to the gym earlier. He'd made up some lame excuse about how his health was at serious risk now that his heart was so shattered, but Jess knew it was one of his desperate attempts to avoid her while she was at her worst.

Tea-less and lonely, she wondered where Nick was. As much as she was almost always aggravated by her roommate, she missed him whenever he wasn't around. He was always unsympathetic and brushed off any comments Jess would throw at him about empathy. 'Doomsweek' as Schmidt put it, was no exception. However, he had recently found new ways to surprise her. He'd changed a lot. Since her time living there, he hadn't been so depressed, and hadn't been moping over his ex-girlfriend as much as Schmidt and Winston complained about. But best of all, he had turned into a softie. Okay, maybe not a total softie, but he had shown appreciation for Jess whenever she achieved small things. Things most men would find mediocre. Like when she ran that 10k, she was showered with praise every day that week from Nick. He was constantly egging her on. Whenever Jess found herself doubtful of what her prospects in life were, he'd be there. Hell, just last month he'd attempted to 'relax' her through water massage, which even though Jess saw it as a plot to drown her at first, was unusually sweet.

She crinkled her nose up.

"Nicholas Miller? The agoraphobic, turtle-faced, borderline alcoholic? Sweet?

Not only that, but he told her that he believed in her.

Her cheeks went bright pink as she remembered the way his tone calmed and he held eye contact with her. Those beautiful, poop coloured eyes. At that point they were both breathless and the tension could have been cut with a blunt knife. It could have been seconds before she would have felt his lips pressed gently against hers. Before she felt his scratchy stubble scrape across her soft cheeks as they floundered about in their little bubble of infatuation.

'You talkin' to yourself again, you weirdo?'

Jess snapped back to reality. She had been so deep in her little dream world that she hadn't even heard the door open, or see Nick come in with a collection of bags. He had a huge grin spread across his face as he lowered them in front of Jess.

'What is that? I told you Nick, you're not getting a turtle and you're definitely not naming it Jess!'

'No, it's not a turtle.' He smiled and reached his hand into the bag and pulled out two bags of chips, a bar of chocolate that you were supposed to 'share' and a box of tea.

'Wow Nick, really? Grocery shopping? Well good for you but didn't it occur to you that we might need other things? Like, oh I don't know, things we won't get diabetes from?'

'Shut up Jess. Listen don't tell Winston this, but I think I understand how you female folk work.'

'Female folk?' Jess raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah, with periods and all that. Anyway, I checked the calendar and noticed that it's the twenty-third, right? And I remembered that day because the magical man I met on the bench told me to remember it after my water massage. I spent weeks tryna figure out why, and then, yesterday evening, when the game was on, I heard the number nineteen and I remembered. That's the day that Miss. Jessica Day turns into a demon. '

'Gee, thanks Nick. And since when were nineteen and twenty three the same number?'

'No problem.' She caught an inkling of amusement as he poked at her arm, adjusting the now caught-up blankets and tucking them around Jess' feet.

Jess rolled her eyes. As hard as he tried, he couldn't seem to grasp sarcasm when it hit him directly in the face. Despite that, Jess was still confused about the food.

'So you got this for me?'

'For us!'

'Since when did Nick Miller, out of the other two roommates, who specifically went to great lengths to avoid me today, want to spend time with me? Don't tell me you're going through sympathy PMS now too.'

'Nah Jess, I just care about ya is all. Am I not allowed to care about you?'

This was a first. Or maybe kind of a second. As much as Nick argued with her about the month before, claiming he was on a spiritual high, Jess had sensed his argument weak and even noticed he didn't seem too bothered when she brought out the feeling stick to discuss it. Even he had to admit how well they got on when they weren't biting the heads off each other.

'No, it just doesn't seem very.. You. I guess.'

Nick made his little turtle face and Jess felt the corners of her lips turn upward. She was looking directly at him now. He'd already gotten a quarter of the way into the bag of chips and was resting his feet on the coffee table.

'You wanna watch something, besides me?' he smirked, staring at the blank screen in front of them.

She realised that she had been looking at him for just over two minutes without realizing.

'Do I what?'

'You know what, let's just sit here in silence, or I could read you a bedtime story.'

Now he was being weird. A bedtime story, really?

'That would be the worst thing you could ever do Nick.'

When she didn't get a response, she turned back to look at him. He swallowed and looked deeply into Jess' eyes. She saw something peak inside of him as a thin line of sweat formed above his brow.

'Or maybe this is the worst thing I could ever do.'

And then it happened.

It all happened so fast. One minute she was within breathing distance from him, next minute she felt her lips on his, slow, but passionate. She was letting Nick kiss her. She was letting her roommate take her into his arms and onto his lap, his hands caught up in her hair. It was exhilarating, her thoughts were racing. She felt other-worldly. As though she'd been lifted into some kind of paradise and was now having the world's best candy. And then, just like that, it was over.

Still sat curled up in his lap, like a kitten, her blue eyes had turned a stormy shade as she took in another breath, clutching onto his shoulder.

'What just happened?' she asked, dazed.

'I don't know. 'He replied, wrapping his arms around her tighter. 'But I'm glad it did.'


	3. Emotions

As Jess sat snuggled up, resting her head on Nick's chest, she began to consider where they both would go from here. She could practically hear his heart racing, as well as her own. They both knew that they couldn't stay like this forever, especially since Schmidt's shift was coming to a close and would be home within a matter of minutes. How were they going to explain their situation, with Jess' lips practically throbbing with passion, when they couldn't quite understand it themselves? The awkward silence began to override the romantic atmosphere in the room, before Nick finally broke it.

"You want me to make you some tea, Jess?"

Jess looked up at him, befuddled. How could he be thinking about tea at a time like this?

"What? No Nick! I want to know what this whole situation is!" She exclaimed, motioning her hand between the two of them.

Nick Gulped. He felt his thoughts bubbling up inside of him. Everything he had hoped to admit to her in that moment crept to the front of his mind. He wanted to tell her how wonderful she had felt, pressed so delicately against his body as she kissed him back, so tenderly. How much he cared about her, loved her even. How much she meant to him and how perfect she was for him. He wanted to tell her how he wanted to hold her in his arms every day, show her off to the world. Most of all, he wanted her to feel the same. And her response to the risk he had taken, he was sure confirmed that she did.

"Well?" Jess conjured softly, looking straight into his eyes. She could see a world of sadness and confusion behind them. She could see how hard he was thinking, trying, struggling, to come up with an answer.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let out a deep sigh and prepared himself for whatever nonsense was about to come out of his mouth.

"I don't know, Jess. All I know was that it felt right. For me, anyway. And If it didn't feel that way for you, then we can just skip the hard, awkward parts and go right back to being roommates who kill each other over who used the last of the almond milk. We can pretend this never happened."

Jess choked back tears as she felt her face flush a hot pink. She didn't _want_ to pretend like it never happened. She wanted to remember it as if it were her first kiss. She chewed at her bottom lip, allowing a tear to spill down onto her cheek and considered her options at this point.

Nick took his thumb and slowly began to wipe away her tears. He hadn't meant to make her cry.

"I need to think about it while I'm not this awkwardly close to your chest." She smiled a soft smile up at him as she brought herself off of his lap and positioned herself back under her blankets, propping herself up onto her side.

"So what about that tea?" she nudged at him and handed him the box of teabags. Jess Day was back.

"Yes m'lady." Nick responded, adding a bow to the gesture.

"Ew don't ever say that again."

"Okay ma'am" he winked, to which she responded by flinging a pillow at him.

At that moment, in walked a distressed looking Winston and Schmidt, clearly fresh out from another argument over Schmidt's rule about no 'sweaty people' in his new Hybrid.

"Hey guys. Oh my- Jess, could you maybe not leave pillows and blankets lying around this living space? Your hair gets all over them and just destroys the feng shui of the room. We can't all be lucky enough to lie around in our pyjamas all day."

Jess rolled her eyes and flopped back down onto the couch, ignoring Winston's attempt to sit down beside her.

"And Nick, don't you think you should have gotten actual groceries instead of this diabetes riddled poison." He addressed the scattered mess the two had left behind on the coffee table just before their little encounter.

"Maybe you'd get some action in the sack if you kept a healthy diet. I can lend you my nutrition plan, written by yours truly."

"Jar!" Jess and Winston yelled in unison.

"Oh yeah Schmidt, cause what man wouldn't want to eat tofu for breakfast. The only time I would _ever_ take your advice, was if I was one day, magically cursed by witches."

"All I'm sayin' is dude, no girl wants to make out with a guy and have to hold onto the cookie pooch in his shirt at the same time." Schmidt affirmed, disappearing behind his bedroom door.

Nick shot a glance at Jess, who was focused on tending to her now overwhelming cravings with the aid of the second bag of chips. He felt the corners of his lips turn up into a smile.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Schmidt. I really wouldn't."


	4. The Doctor's Office

**So thank you for the lovely reviews ^-^ I know I haven't been putting quite enough interaction in these fics, but I'm finding it hard to compete with some of the content the other writers have been putting in. This one, hopefully, should suffice. I've added a lot less romance into this one, so I could fit in more dialogue between the three guys. I also always found it cute when guys nurse girls when they're sick. I don't know why, but I just think it's adorable.**

**Okay, onto chapter 4.**

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own New Girl, the characters or the storyline. But if I did I'd be the happiest girl on earth (:**

* * *

The next day started off as usual. Winston was still asleep from his long night of moping over Shelby. Schmidt was being, well, Schmidt, and was complaining about how he had to get over Cece the hard way, without lying in bed all morning, and Nick was sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee.

"Wow Schmidt, you're a real hero. Now could ya shut up I'm tryna hear the scores." He pointed at the TV, which had recently gone lopsided again.

"Where the hell is Jess?" Schmidt groaned, taking Nick's now empty cup and putting it into the dishwasher. "She was in charge of the chores this morning."

"Maybe she saw that apron and got creeped out. Really Schmidt, I mean isn't it bad enough we have to face your half naked body every time you get out of the shower without you putting it on an apron?"

"You may be a chubby, old man dude, but I, a handsome young Adonis, want to embrace these abs of steel. If you were this built you'd understand." He gestured at his biceps, smiling proudly.

"Jar!" A sleepy looking Winston yelled as he walked limply into the kitchen. He grabbed the box of cornflakes from the shelf and narrowed his eyes. The clock read 11:49am.

"Where's Jess? Doesn't she have work?"

The guys exchanged looks, with Nick holding back on answering with something dumb. He remembered the day before and how Jess had reacted to it. Had he scared her into locking herself into her room? No. She was probably just extra tired. She _had_ been up late that night, grading her students' papers.

"You wanna go check on her, Nick?"

"Why me?"

"You're good at getting around women, especially Jess. She never listens to us. It's like you have some kind of power over her, man."

Schmidt smirked, raising an eyebrow. "You think? I mean he _did_ sock her in the face just last month."

"It was reflexes."

"You were scared bro, admit it."

Nick made his turtle face, raising both hands in order to defend his masculinity.

"I don't have to take this from you clowns. I'm gonna go get Jess."

"Be careful you don't accidently break her jaw!"

"Whatever."

* * *

Jess was curled up in bed, hugging the pillow underneath her head. Her throat was burning and she felt absolutely drained. Her hair was a tousled mess and she felt as though she was going to be sick at any given moment. The most sleep she'd gotten that night was when she'd resorted to taking some of Schmidt's 'mystery oil' which was really just a lavender and rose water solution taken with warm milk. It hurt to move in any way and she was stiff from being in one position for the last three hours. The most she could have done in that time was pray that one of the guys noticed she wasn't up and would come for her, which luckily, they did. Eventually.

"Jess, hey you okay in there?"

He hadn't expected a response, assuming she was still just asleep, but heard a very faint moan of discomfort come from the other side of the door. He turned the handle and scanned the room for a worn down looking Jess. Tucked under her blanket, she looked like a sleepy kitten, just very pale and with red-rimmed eyes, Nick prayed weren't from crying.

"Jess, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm doin' just freaking dandy." Her voice sounded raw and raspy from where he was.

"You sound awful. You need me to get you an aspirin? Or something to drink?"

Jess slowly lifted her head from her pillow, revealing what a mess she was. _Would she ever be able to wake up feeling well this week?_

"Nick." She paused, biting her lip. "Can we talk about last night?"

"Are you crazy Jess? You're as sick as a dog."

"I'm fine."

"To hell you're fine. I'm callin' your boss and telling them you're not coming in today."

"No Nick, I can do that on my own. Anyway, I'll be fine. I just need to freshen up, have a hot shower, do my hair and I'll be-"

She stopped. A sudden bout of nausea swept over her, causing Nick to pull out the drawer from her bedside table in a fluster of panic, which thankfully, was empty.

Once she'd emptied the contents of her stomach, she laid back down on her bed, covering her face with her hands.

"Schmidt!" he shouted out Jess' door. "Bring in some water and an aspirin."

"Did she get it on the carpet, because she'll be cleaning that up herself!"  
Nick rolled his eyes. And he was the unsympathetic one?

"Ah, shut up, Schmidt."

He turned his attention back to Jess, who'd started to allow tears to fall from her eyes. Vomiting had made the pain in her throat worse.

"Jess." he sighed, planting himself down beside her. "Is it_ that _bad?" Even when she was on her 'menzies' she'd never been this upset. He placed a hand on her head, cringing at how hot she was.

"You need to see a doctor."

"I'm okay Nick, I swear. I probably just ate a bad sushi roll or something."

"You touched Schmidt's sushi?"

"She what?!"

In came Schmidt, who shook his head grudgingly at the smell. The one Nick hadn't noticed until now. He handed Nick the water and popped an aspirin from the pack.

"You're the closest room to the bathroom Jess. You really need to work on containing it til you get there. We have to live in this loft too. And my sushi is off the chain. If anything made her sick, it's the build up of dust in here. Air borne viruses, very dangerous, look it up."

"Get out!" Nick protested, assisting his roommate in re-hydrating herself.

"If he cared so much he'd have put emergency bowls and air fresheners in our rooms." He joked, attempting to restore some of Jess' usual optimistic attitude. This time though, all she offered him was a bleak grin.

"Nick, the kiss."

"Sssh, Jess. We don't have to talk about it right now. Just get your rest and I'll call up one of Schmidt's doctors." He ran his fingers lightly through her hair, relaxing her into a light sleepiness.

"Thanks Nick." She smiled, eyes fixated on her suddenly empathetic roommate.

"And you're not going to work either." He turned to walk out of her room, patting her gently on the shoulder before doing so.

"Yes dad." She muffled, huddling back under her blanket.

Yep, he'd definitely turned into a softie.

* * *

"Hey Schmidt, you got that number for the weird doctor you took me to in college?"

"Oh, so _now_ you need my contacts. What about all the '_Schmidt, your books are bulking up the shelves' _and the '_Schmidt, no sane man needs that many numbers'_ Comments. "

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Just give me the damn number ya goofball."

Schmidt pursed his lips and retrieved a red notebook from the top of the bookshelf. "Put it back immediately when you're done with it. It's got all the essential information of the eighty-three women I've slept with in the past five years, so as not to run into difficulty. Três valuable"

"Ten bucks, jar."

He frowned, took a twenty from his pocket and stuffed it into the already full douche-bag jar.

"Keep the change."

* * *

"Jess, come on, you almost ready?"

"Almost!"

She appeared out of her room dressed in a red turtle-neck, plaid skirt and sheer black tights. Her hair had been thrown back and she hadn't bothered to brush out her bangs. It was the first time she'd worn make-up leaving the house, which Nick never really understood about her, because even without make-up, she was twice as beautiful.

"Okay, let's go. Are you sure you're warm enough?"

"Nick, If I were any warmer I'd be on fire."

"Just makin' sure. You have your emergency basin?"

"Yeah" she replied, holding up the white plastic basin to him. "All set."

"Awesome. I'll see you guys later!" He acknowledged Schmidt and Winston, who'd been spending an unhealthy amount of time on the couch. As he opened the door, he felt Jess grasp his wrist and pull him back. She chewed on her lower lip. To Nick, it was one of her cutest traits, and the one that told him she was nervous. Had the guys not been in the room, he would have wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her once again.

"What is it Jess?"

"Um. When we get there, would you mind maybe explaining this whole thing to the doctor for me. I haven't been since I was fifteen and my mom always did the talking for me."

Nick smiled at her. At heart, the quirky, confident, happy Jess, was still a child in her own little ways. It was a mystery as to how she became a teacher in the first place with her mini attacks of shyness. Then again, it was usually around men she didn't know all too well or wasn't attracted to that they happened to her.

"No problem, come on." He placed his arm around her lower back and escorted her out of the door.

"Thanks Nick." She let out a little cough and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked to the elevator. "I really love you sometimes."

* * *

"Well Miss Day, it looks like glandular fever." Jess closed her mouth as the doctor withdrew his, whatever medical tool he'd used in there. "Glandular fever? How?"

Nick sat on the chair beside her, massaging her arm. She'd been sick twice since they'd got there, so that basin definitely came in handy.

"It can be passed on by coming into contact with the saliva of someone who is currently infected with the condition. As may occur when kissing, hence its other name - _the kissing disease_, via coughs and sneezes and when sharing cutlery and crockery, such as cups, plates and spoons."

Jess looked at Nick, horrified. "Do you think you may have come into contact with someone contracting the disease in the last seventy-two hours Miss. Day?" She shook her head, not wanting to believe that someone as careful as Nick could have given her such an awful illness. "No sir, but we live with two other guys." The doctor smiled, looking at both of them. "Well, it is vital that you're honest with me or we can't carry out the correct treatment on you, or the person you may have contracted it from.." This time, he was addressing Nick. "Miss. Day do you think you could step outside for a moment."

The two shared glances. Taking Nick's hand, she squeezed it tightly in hers. "It's not your fault Nick. Just do whatever the doctor tells you." She wrapped her free hand loosely around her throat, wincing at the pain she was getting from every word. She freed her grasp from him and smoothed out her skirt, before walking out of the door.

_How could this have happened? Nick? Surely he'd have known he had the 'kissing disease'. No, it was definitely that night when she accidently took Cece's drink instead of her own when they were at the bar last Saturday._ That had to have been it. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she watched the door. The sea-green seats were rubbery and constantly made a squeaking noise if she dared move. Nick could so easily be scolded, just for kissing, by that insane doctor with ornaments of stone mice littering his desk. An innocent human reaction to when you like someone. The time she had out in the waiting room, which was equivalent to that of a ghost town, gave her some time to ponder about the _kiss. _Possibly one of the nicest moments of her time in the loft. Apart from the time the guys and Cece woke up an entire neighbourhood at 2am to turn on their lights on Christmas Eve. She knew she'd always felt something for Nick. Something Schmidt had made clear was never to happen. Something that would throw the roommate dynamic completely out of whack. But she could never quite describe it. It wasn't like with Russell or Sam. This was different. A kind of warm, excited feeling whenever she saw him, but at the same time wanted to hit him across the head with a newspaper. He knew how to annoy her, and make her go to mush all at once. It was the kind of passion she'd never experienced with Russell, which had caused their relationship to crash and burn. Even if he had given her this disease, that forced her to be sick every ten minutes and caused her to burn up under a cold shower, she'd forgive him. Let's face it, if she could get over him peeing on all her pretty dresses, she could forgive him for this.

* * *

The ride home was tense. Nick didn't make eye contact with Jess the entire way, and had turned up the radio to an unusually high level. Every few minutes, Jess would go to say something to him, to reassure him that it was fine and the doctor had said it would only last a week or two. Or three. But she never did. Nick was known to be a person who experienced guilt a lot more than he should. Something that the majority of the time never shone through. At least not until now.

"So." she said, as melodiously as possible. "Glaaaandular fever. We're the fever buddies." She nudged him, putting on a smile that looked plastered on, badly.

"Yeah Jess. Fever buddies." he unenthusiasticly threw his fist in the air, not taking his eyes off the road to meet hers.

Jess frowned. "Nick this isn't your-"

"Yes it is Jess." He interrupted. "You're sick and it's all 'cause I'm an idiot who never considers his God Damn actions before he does them."

"But-"

"There's no _buts, _Jess. We're gonna go to the pharmacy, get you your antibiotics and get you home, back to bed. I'm sorry, Jess. I'm an idiot, I should've known better."

"Known what? Nick, you didn't even know you had it, why are you blaming yourself?" She had begun to raise her voice before a shoot of burning pain scratched across it and she began to massage it again. "Yeah, great, I'm stuck with this for another month, _along_ with the red devil in my belly. But can't you consider for just one minute that maybe, just _maybe_, I enjoyed getting that disease, if it meant getting to kiss you?" She halted, realising what she'd just said. She'd suddenly gained an interest in a strand of hair that'd fallen loose while they were in the doctor's office.

"You enjoyed it?" He brought the car to a stop on the sidewalk, almost hitting two teenagers who'd clearly been enjoying their gossip before being rudely intruded upon. "You're not mad?"

"Hell yeah I'm mad!"

"Wait what?" He looked deeply into her eyes. Those big blue saucers she kept all her emotions in, and let out at moments like these.

"Why didn't we talk about the kiss, Nick? Why can't we just talk about it now. Because right now, I think we kind of have to." Her bottom lip began to quiver. How did he do so much, but so little to her all the time?

"Okay Jess, you wanna talk about the kiss, let's talk about the damn kiss."

"Good!"

"I care about you Jess. I always have, I always will. I kissed you because it felt right. It felt right at the time and it felt right pretty much all night that night. Hell, I'm still kinda ridin' a high from it. That night we thought I had cancer, I wanted to kiss you so badly. I wanted to let you know how I felt about you. I wanted you to feel the same, so that if I did die, at least I'd die a happy man, and not the grumpy guy Caroline turned me into." He closed his eyes and contemplated how to put the next few words. Jess was now in the middle of one of her happy/sad crying sessions where she would smile, and then frown and look at her feet. "I love you Jess."

She looked up at him, teary eyed and flustered. Through his expression, she could tell part of him felt relieved. She delved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I love you too, Nicholas."

* * *

To be continued...

.


	5. Christmas in Chicago

**Hey guys! So since it's almost Christmas, I've decided to theme this chapter, except it won't be taking place in the loft. We're going to Chicago to spend Christmas with Nick's family. Nick and Jess ensues. I hope you all enjoy! Merry Christmas! (How many times did I say Christmas there?) **

* * *

"Jess, are you almost done packing? We're already fifteen minutes behind schedule."

"Yeah, almost, I can't find my other earring."

"You don't need an earring, Jess, we're going to be on a plane for four and a half hours. You'll need to take them out at TSA anyway."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. But on the way to the airport we need to stop at the store to get tampons."

"Jess you just finished your cycle. Women, am I right?" Schmidt rolled his eyes and looked over to Winston, who replied with a half-smile and turned his attention back to his own suitcase. Nick, on the other hand, was standing by the door with his hood up. He and Jess were acting extremely awkward around one another since the day at the doctor's office. Neither of them knew what came next, especially Nick, who was concerned about the roommate dynamic and what would happen if they were to get together and then break up. The loft would be nothing but toxic energy, and he ran the risk of Jess moving out and finding other guys to live with, like she did with Spencer. It was too stressful. Plus having a woman in the loft meant it always smelt of vanilla, which, though he hated to admit, he loved.

Jess appeared out into the hallway, rolling behind her a large pink suitcase with polka dots. She beamed at the three guys, setting it at the door.

"'I'm so excited you guys, I haven't been on a plane since I was five!"

"Jess, do you realise you're going to have to deal with mushy, cheap food with little to no leg room for four hours? While breathing in other people's oxygen, in a tiny compact space. There's nothing to be excited about." Nick huffed, turning the key in the door.

"And once you're done with that, you have to deal with Nick's mom for the rest of the holidays." Schmidt added.

"Hey man, don't talk about my mom like that. But seriously Jess, she's a pain. She's gonna make us wear like, Santa hats and crap. And every year she buys crackers which pretty much just make a mess of the place, with the paper, and the loud noise they make when you break them."

Jess pulled on her coat, not wiping the smile from her face. "Guys, don't be such Grinch's. Nick, I'm sure your mom is great, and I got you all really great gifts, so you've got something to be happy about during this 'horrendous' plane ride."

The three guys shook their heads and made their way to the elevator, each one arguing over which of them would have to sit beside Jess during the journey.

* * *

After an hour of waiting in line at security, checking their bags in and Schmidt panicking over whether they'd remembered their passports, they'd finally boarded the plane. Somehow, they'd managed to get seats all in the same place. To his luck, Nick had been seated beside Jess, who thankfully, brought a book with her to keep her from talking to him. Winston had already fallen asleep against the window, while Schmidt was busy Facetiming with Cece and Robbie. So far, everything was calm. Except for a few crying babies further up the aisle.

The thought of introducing his roommates to his mom and brothers made Nick feel slightly excited and nervous. On the one hand, he got to prove to himself that he'd managed to make friends and get out of his hippie phase from college, but on the other, he was thirty, single, and was pretty much going nowhere in life. Jess could easily have passed for his girlfriend, especially given the stage they were at, at present. His mom would probably have expected him to be married at this point of his life, but she'd be proud of him nevertheless. That was something he missed about home. He was able to be himself without the pressure of modern life telling him where to go and who to be. He found that same security in Jess. She'd always been there for him, even if she had her occasional outbursts on him when they would argue.

He looked down at her. She was wrapped up in a blue poncho, captivated by whatever story she was reading. Nick often noticed how caught up she'd get in her own little world. How she'd just disappear into a different dimension after a while, if she was upset, scared, even excited, she'd be off on another planet. To understand Jess was almost like trying to find the meaning of life, as drastic as it sounded. She was special. In a good way.

"Whatcha' reading there?" he eased himself closer to her, eyeing the page she was on.

Jess glanced up at him and back at her book. "It's called The Silver-Linings Playbook." She smiled at him. "It's very good."

"Oh yeah, what's it about? A unicorn without a family who finds a silver lining?" He joked.

Jess shook her head and raised an eyebrow. "Nick, why do you think all I read is happy, girlie stories with some form of mythical creature?"

"Okay then, what's the real plot of it, Miss defensive-person?"

"Miss defensive-person Nick? Really?"

"I dunno Jess, just go on."

She shook her head. "It's about a guy and a girl with mental health problems who pretty much end up falling in love through helping each other."

"So it's a chick-flick novel type thing?"

"Not really. There's football in it." She flicked through the pages, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Makes sense. Okay then. Carry on."

Nick turned around in his seat to find a sleepy looking Winston and Schmidt.

"How you clowns doing back there?" He smirked. Schmidt groaned and threw his head back into the seat.

"Terrible, man. When are they gonna land this thing? I can feel fluid retention in my feet."

Nick made his turtle face, barely visible through the tiny slits between the seats. "We've only been in the air for two and a half hours, Schmidty. Don't you have those travel socks you drove us around all day yesterday looking for?"

"Yes Nicholas, I do. And as a matter of fact, they're called flight socks."

Jess joined the conversation, peering through her own little crevice in the seat.

"What are we talking about?"

"Schmidt's weird obsession with his circulation."

"Ew, what? You're discussing his-?"

"No Jess! Just go back to reading." Nick exclaimed, pulling her back to her seat. He'd have to talk to her at some point. About more than just her literacy interests. And it'd have to be soon.

* * *

By the time they landed, they'd headed straight for the nearest bar. Nick had been without alcohol for over forty-eight hours and needed something to get his mind off of the headache he was experiencing from Schmidt's whining. Jess and Winston sat at a booth in a corner, both exhausted from the seemingly endless ride. So far, she loved Chicago. It wasn't as rambunctious as Los Angeles, but it had a nice city-feel to it. The streets were decorated nicely, with a festive touch to every building in sight.

"One pink wine and one light beer." Nick placed the drinks in front of them, cradling his own, which looked almost empty.

"Whadya think of this place? Feels like home, am I right?"

Jess smiled at him, taking a swig from her glass.

"I can't wait to see your house, Mr. Miller. You in your natural habitat."

"I'm exactly the same there, you guys. Oh and Jess, you might have to share a bed with one of us, I've only got one water mattress and one double bed."

Jess thought she caught a hint of excitement in his tone as he spoke, and she'd have been lying if she said she hadn't felt the same.

"Fine. Just so long as you all wear clothes in bed, we're good." Schmidt and Winston each exchanged horrified looks and turned away from each other, knowing the fate of the night.

* * *

At the Miller residence, Jess and Nick's Mom, Denise, were already on good terms with one another. They'd spent twenty minutes talking about how much they loved decorating the tree and hanging up stockings, with an emotional moment of Jess remembering the last time she'd decorated one with both her parents as a family. They were treated to helpings of spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and red wine, afterwards accompanied by lemon and vanilla cheesecake. A combination Schmidt seemed to be the most interested in.

"So." His mom said to Nick. "Jess seems nice. When did you meet her?"

Nick, who was busy helping with the wash-up while the rest of them had assembled themselves into their rooms, shrugged his shoulders at the question, replying with a simple "A year and a half ago." He was in no mood to discuss his relationship with Jess, not wanting to jinx anything before it happened.

He glanced out of the window above the sink, meeting his own reflection. It was exactly like old times. His twelve year old self, long hair and big-shot guy clothes, helping his mom with the chores during Christmas. Outside of that window, he could see his entire neighborhood. It was a nice open space that helped him to relax. A lot had changed since then. Lots of trees had vanished, there were completely different cars parked in the driveways, homes had been re-painted and renovated, by the looks of it. He sometimes questioned why he moved to L.A. Then again, if he hadn't, he wouldn't have met Schmidt or Winston. Or Jess.

* * *

At around eleven, everyone had retired to bed, eager to sleep off the meal they'd devoured. Nick and Jess had taken the double bed in Nick's old room, still decorated in worn down posters of The Smiths and The Sex Pistols. Nick had paid close attention to wear more than he usually would in bed, which was actually just a white shirt and boxers. Jess, on the other hand, had covered herself from head to toe in button down pajamas and fuzzy socks.

"Your Mom seems nice." She smiled, placing her glasses on the bedside table.

"Yeah, you guys are a lot alike actually."

Jess pressed her lips close together, pulling herself under the duvet. Nick's room was warm, either from the heating or from Nick himself. She felt like she'd never get to talk to him alone that day, being so close to everyone else. And now was a perfect opportunity to say something. But she couldn't. She knew how he felt about her and how she felt about him, so why was it so freaking hard?

_Gosh, Jess, just ask him, you ninny._

_God, Nick, just ask her, you ninny._

__Once they were both settled, they each looked at each other, unknowingly for the same reason.

"Jess, what are we?"

"I don't know anymore, Nick. I mean, I feel like we should embrace our feelings for each other but I don't want to ruin our friendship."

Nick sighed. "What more is there to ruin, Jess? We basically fell into each other's arms last week. How can that happen once and then never be spoken of again?"

"What are you saying?" Jess' eyes had turned to a dark shade of blue and she could feel her heart racing in her chest, scared of the answer.

"Jess, I want-."

He was interrupted by a very excited sounding Schmidt. He peered his head around the door.

"SNOW! YOU GUYS, LOOK OUT THE WINDOW"

He smiled enthusiastically, immediately dragging Jess into a whirl of incitement.  
"OH MY GOSH REALLY?"

She jumped out of bed, having rarely seen snow in her life. She drew back the curtain forcefully, and watched as the white flakes delicately swerved around the air, creating an icy white blanket around the house. Her mouth dropped open as she took in this experienced, with Schmidt, Winston and Nick behind her.

"My first white Christmas with you guys." she whispered, happily, bringing them all in for a group hug.

Nick forced a smile, his words hanging in the back of his throat. He so badly wanted to tell her, but didn't want to take this moment away from her..

* * *

_**TBC**_


End file.
